WELCOME TO SWIM & SURVIVAL ACADEMY

Being trusted with the job of teaching children to swim and survive is something we take very seriously. A child’s safety is too precious to take short cuts with. We offer a comprehensive program which caters for swimmers from babies through to adults.

Children who learn to swim demonstrate more advanced cognitive and physical abilities than other children, according to groundbreaking research led by Griffith University. Click Here to Read More

OUR PROGRAMS

Learn to Swim - Babies from six months to around three years
It is never too early to teach your children to respect water, and enjoy it. Bond with your baby while developing their social, coordination and physical skills and lay the foundations for a lifetime of fun and safety in the water.

Learn to Swim - Preschoolers
Time flies when you’re having fun, and so do swim classes. Our Kinder Kids Learn to Swim program runs every weekday in our morning swim sessions. With this age group, we focus on using fun games, toys and activities to help preschoolers learn swimming and survival skills while having an awesome time.
Our kinder program is proof that learning can be easy and fun, and ensures your children develop a future love of the water.

Learn to Swim - School age and above
Matched to your child’s needs and abilities, the Learn to Swim program will soon have your child swimming freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke as well as learning dive starts and turns. Most importantly, they’ll learn the survival skills they need to keep their head above water in any situation.

Every future Olympian has to start somewhere – why not in Ballarat? At our swim school, our Squad Program is industry-leading and focused on building swimming skills across all four strokes as well as developing fitness. Discover the fun of being part of a team, learning about sportsmanship as you develop the expertise to aim high.

One of the most important classes children will ever take while at school is their swimming lessons. Our schools program is designed to work in with busy schools needs and time schedules. We have flexible options to ensure all our schools are given quality aquatic education at a price and time to suit. Our coordinators and supervisors ensure a hassle free learn to swim program.

Looking to get into shape? Water fitness can give you the fitness and healthy edge your looking for without you needing to risk Ballarat’s temperamental weather. Resistance provided by the water in an aqua pump or a water aerobics classes makes your muscles work harder – and it’s also safer and softer impact for your joints. Join in the fun and see the benefits.

FREE Information Session

EVENTS / THEME WEEKS

Every term we run a water safety and awareness week. All the swimmers are encouraged to wear clothes over their bathers, so that they can experience what it feels like if they accidently fall into water.

In the last week of Term 1 every year, we celebrate Easter by dressing up and running our lessons around Easter themed games and events. The swimmers have a great time and it is a good way to finish a busy first term.

During Footy Finals Week we encourage all our families to come to swimming wearing football gear to support their favourite football team. During the lessons the teachers run games and activities around football.

Every 2 years we run either an Olympics or Commonwealth Games week (to coincide with these events). At the end of every lesson during the week we run fun games and activities to go along with the games theme.

During Quick Dash Term we aim to develop sprinting skills in our swimmers. The fastest times for each squad level in all four strokes are recorded on our "Quick Dash" boards on pool deck in the squad swimmers area.

We Are Very Impressed

We are very impressed with the small classes and the enthusiasm of all the teachers here at your pool.

We have only been here one week and are very happy!

Sebastian and Charlotte’s Mum

Best Decisions We Have Made

We are writing to say thank you for the wonderful job that your centre has done with our little boy.Jacob is six years old and up until 6 months ago was afraid of the water, would not put his head in the water let alone let go of the side of the pool.We decided to send Jacob along to swim lessons and it has been one of the best decisions that my husband and I have made.
The Willowhites

Love Learning to Swim

The O'Neill family 'love' learning to swim at the Swim and Survival Academy asit feels like the 'red carpet' has been rolled out for us. As individuals it seems likewe are being 'watched' & never do we become stagnant in our swimming. We are encouraged at every level.
Thanks SSA - O'Neil Family

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS...

Why Choose Us?

At Swim and Survival Academy, everyone at our swim school is passionate about swimming. We take children’s safety seriously and offer a range of programs for any level – babies right through to adults.

Our swim school is selective. We don’t employ everyone who walks through the door! We select talented people and provide in-house training to turn them into extraordinary swimming teachers.

We work out the details. With a carefully-planned program and top customer service, we’re with you and your family every step of the way.

How many children are in classes?

Tiny Tackers classes, where parents attend with their children, have a maximum of six students. This gives plenty of opportunity to meet other tackers, while the teacher can work one-on-one with the littlies.

Learn to Swim classes have a maximum of four swimmers in beginner classes and a maximum of five in more advanced classes.

When can I start my child swimming?

From six months onwards. At this age, lessons are about water familiarization and basic survival skills. As children have come from a water environment, starting early in a water environment is a natural feeling for babies.

We offer New Parent sessions for Parent groups who would like to learn what they can do in the bath at home until they are ready to begin formal lessons. This is a free 30 minute session in the pool with one of our qualified teachers for our little ones from 4-6months of age. It includes a free cuppa and discussion afterwards to answer all your questions.

The sooner you start, the sooner your child learns water safety.

How long will my child need to do lessons for?

To ensure they’ve got strong enough survival skills, we recommend children all attain a minimum level of Junior Squad, where they are able to swim 1km freestyle non-stop.

At this level, your child will have experience treading water, swimming long distances fully clothed, and will have learnt basic CPR.

What is the pool temperature?

Being comfortable is important. Not just because Ballarat can be a cold place sometimes, but because being too cold means kids will struggle to concentrate - so we run all three of our pools at 32°C.

Our pool deck and change rooms are also heated in the winter months to 25 degrees. Comfortable children learn quickly when they are not distracted by the cold.

How big are the pools?

We’ve got three pool systems – a 10x12m for our Learn to Swim program, a 6x2m deep water pool for our survival skills training and a three-lane 25m pool with starting blocks for our higher-level swimmers and squad athletes.